I haven’t eaten actual cheese for decades and don’t miss it at all, but as a vegan I have sometimes enjoyed a dairy-free alternative to cheese. It’s certainly a useful thing to have in the fridge, turning a simple salad into something a bit more interesting and nutritious and providing a great filling for a raw (or even almost-raw) sandwich.

Ingredients:

Method:

Blend the nuts and water together until you have a smooth paste.

Add the powder from the probiotic capsules and mix in thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into a nut milk bag or a piece of muslin and place in a sieve, over a bowl. Place a plate on the top and a weight to squeeze the excess liquid out. I used a fairly full jar of coconut oil which seemed heavy enough.

Leave at room temperature for 24-48 hours. It’s a good idea to place a cloth over the whole thing so that no dust or unwelcome flying insects get in.

After 24-48 hours, unwrap the mixture and place it into a clean bowl. Add the salt, yeast and lemon juice and stir everything in.

Now pour the mixture into a ring mould. I put mine on top of a non-stick dehydrator sheet (on a DH tray) and placed it in the dehydrator for 24 hours to dry out a little and get a crust. Then I placed it in the fridge, where it lives whilst it is being eaten.

You can just put it straight into the fridge without dehydrating if you are in a hurry or don’t want a crust.

It’s delicious and can be customised with herbs, onion, garlic… the list is limitless!

The dehydrator has been used to dry and preserve foods for many years.
When you have a glut of something, it’s useful to have a raw-food way of preserving some, and keeping all the nutrients.
Here are some of the foods I preserve in the dehydrator:

Tomatoes
Slice into 4 or 5 slices eachDry as they are or…Dip in olive oil
Sprinkle with salt and chopped herbs
Keep in a jar and use just like sun-dried tomatoes

Apples
Cut into slices
Either dry as they are or…
Dip in olive oil and ground cinnamon for a spicy Autumnal treat

Root Vegetable Crisps
Use a vegetable peeler to slice carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnip and beetroot
Dry just as they are, until crispy.

Garlic
Peel a lot of garlic cloves
Chop finely in a food processor (or by hand, if you can be bothered)
Dry in a nut milk bag or a dehydrator tray until completely dry
The pieces will clump together, so use an electric mill to crush them
Keep in a jar and use anywhere you’d use fresh garlic

Here are a couple of useful sauces to make and keep in the fridge.
I had to dash out this afternoon, so I whipped them up quickly before I caught my train.
They are both good for making salad dressings, spreading on crackers, dipping vegetables in… etc, etc…

RawTahini
Soak 1 cup sesame seeds for a couple of hours. (Be careful not to soak the seeds too long or you will waterlog them and the tahini won’t last as long.)
Drain and blend with 1/2 cup water and some salt & pepper
It’s that easy! It will last about 4 days in the fridge.
This Raw Tahini comes out really pure and white and is perfect for making Raw Hummus! go on, soak some chick peas now…

I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about Cultured Vegetables.
Now, to be honest, I had no idea what these were, but when the universe keeps banging on about something, I have to sit up and listen.
About a month ago I read a Sauerkraut recipe in one of Shazzie‘s books: Detox Your World (it’s a great book, by the way – I highly recommend it)
My first thought on reading the recipe was “Eeuw! No way! I’m not eating rotting vegetables, thank you very much! I’ll have something else.”
And that was that. I left it, until I saw this interesting article on Cultured Vegetables, which explained it all to me. I had one of those “Aha” moments (and no, not a flashback to the 80s pop group!) suddenly it made sense, but I still felt a bit anxious about making my own.
What if I did it wrong? Could I accidentally introduce a pathogenic bacteria and give it room to grow?
However, a quick look at the price of Cultured Vegetables convinced me that I had to make my own.
I found this useful tutorial and had a go.
I used cabbage and cucumber (keep it simple to start with,) and a couple of lettuce leaves to keep the vegetables under the water. Here is my Sauerkraut in a Kilner jar. I ‘pop’ the gas 2 or 3 times a day and it should be ready to eat on Monday!